Maryland Law Clarifies Patient’s End-Of-Life Wishes
By Jeffrey A. Kolender, Principal
One of the most important parts of any estate plan is providing for your health care treatment in case you become disabled and cannot make medical decisions yourself. You may already have signed an Advance Directive, designating someone (a “health care agent” ) to make medical decisions for you, and also stating your wishes for the withholding of medical treatment in extreme situations.
November 2011Arbitration Agreements, Employee Handbooks: Bad Mix
By James R. Hammerschmidt, Principal
So, you’ve heard that arbitration agreements are the way to go. You’ve read or been told that arbitration is less expensive than litigating discrimination and other employee claims in court, and that it avoids the risk of a runaway jury verdict in favor of your employee. Just slip the agreement into your company’s employee handbook and you’re good to go.
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IRS Initiative for Reclassification of Contractors
By James R. Hammerschmidt Principal
As part of the IRS Fresh Start initiative to help employers obtain a “fresh start” with their tax obligations, the agency has outlined a new program for employers to create a “low cost” resolution to prior worker classification issues by voluntarily reclassifying their employees.
September 2011Confession of Judgment Key Loan Provision
Arthur H. Blitz, Principal
Every commercial loan made by a bank or other financial institution includes a promissory note which is the borrower’s “promise” to pay back the loan. The note contains all of the important terms of the transaction, including the interest rate, the amount of the monthly payment and the date the loan matures. If the borrower makes all of his payments on time and pays off the note at the maturity date, all is well. What happens when the borrower falls behind and cannot make the required payments? Read the rest of this entry »
September 2011Executor, Personal Representative Seeking Attorney
By Deborah A. Cohn, Principal
Your parent or spouse just passed away and you’ve been named the executor or personal representative of the estate. You know you need a lawyer who can help you probate the will or administer the revocable trust. How do you go about finding an estates and trusts attorney? What specific qualities and credentials should you look for in your search?
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Damages Waiver Clauses Often Problematic
By Arthur House, Principal
Waivers of consequential damages in contractual agreements have become commonplace, yet these clauses often result in significant unintended consequences. Here is an example of a simple consequential damages waiver clause, the kind frequently found in the “miscellaneous” section of contracts:
September 2011MD Inheritance Tax Exemptions – Domestic Partners
By Arnold B. Sherman, Principal
The Maryland Code exempts from inheritance tax all property received by the spouse of a deceased Maryland resident. It also exempts property that passes from a decedent to or for the use of, among others, the decedent’s children, grandchildren, the spouse of a child of the decedent, the spouse of a lineal descendant of a child of the decedent and the brother or sister of the decedent.
August 2011Lender Beware Upstream vs. Downstream Guarantees
By Arthur H. Blitz, Principal
In the world of commercial finance, many loans are secured by real estate; the borrower gives the lender a lien on the borrower’s real estate to secure payment of the loan. In Maryland, the downside to granting this type of lien is the large amount of taxes collected by the clerk of court when the lien is recorded. On a loan of $1 million, for example, the taxes collected could easily exceed $10,000. Loans running in the many millions of dollars are not uncommon and they can cost the borrower hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes collected when the lien is recorded.
August 2011Review & Fix Estate Plans Before Law Changes Do
By Wayne D. Eig, Principal
In December of 2010, Congress and President Obama came to a compromise on a series of tax law changes affecting income, estate, gift and generation skipping taxes. (For a summary of the more salient changes, see the “Estate & Gift Tax Laws Provide Benefits For Now” blog post by Jeff Kolender, chair of the firm’s Estate Planning and Estate/Trust Administration practice groups.) These modifications generally had the effect of further extending, and in several important aspects, substantially expanding estate tax planning opportunities for many taxpayers. They adopted the now common and dreaded “sunset” provisions of recent tax law, which means that, without further legislative action, these favorable changes will by and large expire and be lost, in this case, at the end of 2012.
May 2011MD Law Expands Recordation & Transfer Tax Exemptions
By Katherine Palumbo, Principal
Recordation and transfer taxes in Maryland are among the highest in the region, and can be prohibitively expensive to someone wanting to transfer real property–during life or at death, outright or in trust–as part of his or her estate planning. A new state law (effective July 1, 2011) that expands existing recordation and transfer tax exemptions should lower the transactional costs for many types of estate planning conveyances. It will also close a loophole that has recently been used by one Maryland county (and is under consideration by other counties in the state) to impose recordation and transfer taxes on certain transfers of real property from an estate.
May 2011How To Find A Family Law Attorney
By Bibi M. Berry, Principal
Suppose you are considering filing for divorce. Perhaps you have a custody, visitation or child support issue that needs to be resolved. Maybe you want a prenuptial agreement or a postnuptial agreement prepared. Or let’s say you have some other family-related issue that requires the knowledge and experience of a good family law attorney. Where do you even begin ?
May 2011Buying Residence With Partner A Complex Matter
By Arthur H. Blitz, Principal
You and your significant other–boyfriend or girlfriend, perhaps your fiancée–decide to buy a house or condominium together. You figure it’s better to own than to rent and since the monthly mortgage payments will roughly equal the monthly rental payments, it seems like a good idea. Yet whether you know it or not, the two of you are about to enter into a very complex business arrangement and you had better plan and be prepared for the “what ifs” down the road.
March 2011